Comment by Retric

> Add more or less value to the government than functions the government has chosen

Talking about average government spending isn’t a reasonable argument because you can only spend money once. If these people cost ~1B/year you aren’t paying for 100+B in spending by cutting them. Instead you get to add exactly 1B in government spending and thus the yardstick is the least efficient billion you’re paying out vs keeping these people.

Not that we actually balance the budget making the idea of short term saving meaningless. Instead it’s about long term consequences.